Indiana Congressman Jim Banks joined with Democratic Congressman Dan Lipinski on Thursday to introduce a bipartisan bill that would direct the Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health to prioritize life-affirming stem cell research.

If the bill is signed into law, according to a news release, the measure would direct Health and Human Services to make stem cell research that has the greatest potential for near-term benefit in human patients a priority. It would also direct the HHS secretary along with the Director of the National Institutes of Health to publish guidelines that would make sure all future research prioritizes the potential for near-term clinical benefit in human patients while refraining from creating or destroying human embryos in the process.

Banks in a news release said on Thursday quote “HHS and NIH both perform important life-saving research and promoting research that protects life has support on both sides of the aisle.”